


Nice to Meet You Again

by TheLonelyRose



Series: Athena and Jason [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Female Tim Drake, Friends to Lovers, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Jason Todd is Robin, Kissing, Minor Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, My First AO3 Post, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Teasing, Tim Drake is Catlad, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-10-14 07:37:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17504375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLonelyRose/pseuds/TheLonelyRose
Summary: When Jason first met Kitten, he was trying to stop Catwoman from stealing some fancy gem with Batman... Again. Ever since then, he would cross paths occasionally with the little girl , blossoming a friendship that would last for years.But, then he died.And, then he came back. And that little girl wasn't so little anymore._______________________________________________________________________________________________________The story will be better then the summary, promise.





	1. First and Second Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> I like Fem!Tim Drake just as much as I like him as a guy, but I've been wanting more Fem!Tim fanfics lately so I took matters into my own hands. I like having Fem!Tim's name be Athena, Thea for short, after the goddess Athena, the goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy. Fitting ain't it? And I like Stray/Kitten over Catlad, so there's that too. 
> 
> Also weird note: I have some pretty strong headcannons about the eye colors of the Robins and Batman. So you'll see that partially.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited May 14, 2019

                Jason can still remember the hot and humid night he met her. He and Batman had been patrolling the building tops on that slow June night. It had been a rare night where crime was so low that the worst was jaywalking, the GCPD could handle those. But who could blame the villains? Nobody wanted to be subjected to the sticky humidity. Jason could even recall seeing some small beads of sweat rolling down on Bruce’s face, not that the head Bat would ever admit to being too hot in his Batman uniform. Jason was almost wishing for Mr. Freeze to attack and bring some sort of sweet, sweet relief from this heat.

 

Bruce had been about to call it a night when Alfred announced over the earpieces that Catwoman had been spotted breaking into the museum. The two of them raced over to the Gotham City Museum in pursuit of their self-appointed jobs of “stopping” Selina from stealing whatever it was she decided she wanted this time. Though Jason had a feeling that while they would get the thing back, Catwoman would be caught.

 

“She slipped between my fingers again, Robin, but I managed to get the priceless artifact back.” Yeah, ah ha, Bruce. Keeping saying that. Maybe it will be true one day.

 

And stopping her went as expected, with Catwoman flirting with Batman, Batman flirting back, adults being gross, and then Batman telling him to stay here while he gave chase over the Gotham skyline. Jason, too hot to fight Bruce on this tonight like he usually would, simply agreed. The thirteen year old decided to go make himself comfortable on the building ledge and wait for his mentor to return before heading back to the manor to retire for the night

 

Jason yawned and stretched. “Man, I am so glad I don’t have anything to do tomorrow…today? Jeez, what time it is anyways?” He asked nobody as his back gave a satisfactory pop.

 

“It’s almost three in the morning,” said a the tiny voice that seemingly came from nowhere. Jason almost jumped out of his skin and off the ledge. He swerved his head around, trying to locate the source of the voice he spotted her. To his left stood, about a yard away, one of the scrawniest kids he had ever seen, even compared to others he knew during his time living on the street. She couldn’t be no higher than his mid-chest and fifty-five pound wet.

 

“Wha-? Who-?” Jason stumbled over his words in shock as he took in the sight of the person who had just snuck up on him.

 

 The tiny girl wore an almost all black outfit, comprised of combat boots, fully fingered gloves, skinny black jean that clung to her wiry legs, and simple long sleeve shirt. Upon her shoulder length midnight hair sat a pair of googles that looked like cat ears while up, and she wore a simple, black mask protecting her identity.

 

But what had caused Jason to pause (besides the fact there was even a random girl here) were the eyes hidden under the mask. They were the coldest, crystalline blue eyes he had ever seen. They were wiser than Dick’s sparkling oceans, but they were not as old as Bruce’s industrial steel blue eyes.

 

“Who are you? What are you doing?” He finally managed to spit out after taking forever to get himself together.

 

            The little girl giggled at his poor attempt to gain control of the situation, even covering her mouth as she did. Jason’s cheeks heated up. She was pissing him off, nothing to do with the fact she is cute. Focus, Jason. Possible enemy in front of you! “You’re funny. Hi. I’m Catwoman’s new apprentice.” She stuck her hand out for Jason to shake. “Don’t really have a name just yet. This is my first night out like this.” Jason stared at her for a moment, before cautiously taking her hand and shaking it.

 

            “Uh… I’m Robin. It’s nice to meet you…. I think?” Jason had no idea how to respond to this. That explains the cat ears. “I never pegged Catwoman to take a little kid under her paw.”

 

            “Well, neither does Batman if you think about it,” she quipped back quickly. “And I’m eleven. Thank you very much.”

 

             The two let go of the other’s hand. They stood in an awkward silence for a few beats on the hot roof of the city museum, until the mysterious girl decided to break the ice. “Hey, do mind if I stayed here for a little while? I mean, you don’t have to let me stay. I know my way back to base, but Selina would kill me if she knew I went alone. And I would ask you, but Batman told you to stay and I can’t be letting you know where our hide out is. And-“

 

            “Yeah, you can stay here with me,” Jason said with a smile, cutting off her nervous ramblings. “I wouldn’t mind the company of a little Kitten.”

 

            And there they sat for about an hour , talking about nothing and everything they could with out giving away their identities. The name Kitten stayed with her, becoming the alias in the world of masks. Thus, the friendship between the Robin and Kitten began.

 

            For years next three years, the two only grew closer as they watched the other grow and mature. Jason shot right up in height, almost the same height as Dick, but filling out more in muscle than his lean acrobatic brother. His face became more defined and masculine as the curves of his youth melted away. But his eyes remain the same hazel-blue they always were. Safe to say, Jason was very handsome. His Robin suit changed to now have pants, at the suggestion of his Kitten.

 

            On the other hand, if puberty had treated him like a king, Athena was treated like a goddess. While still on the petite side, she was filling out beautifully. Her face remained free of acne and scarring. She had let he hair grow out, now reaching just below her shoulders. Her outfit had also changed as the years pasted, becoming more like Selina’s skin tight leather suit, but modified to be more modest due to her age. Her combat boots, mask, and cat-ear goggles, also, got up graded as time went on. She picked up and mastered the bo staff, too.

 

            She was only thirteen when he last saw her as Robin, but Jason could tell that when she was done growing, no man would stand a chance against her. Himself included. He was fifteen, almost sixteen, when he left to find his mother in Ethiopia.

 

            “I’ll be back before you can even tell I’m even gone, Kitten.” Jason said. Kitten was not happy when he informed her of his plan. Currently with her back to him, she had been giving him the silent treatment all night. “Kitten-”

 

            “Athena.”

 

            “What?”

 

            Kitten’s shoulders dropped as she let out a tired sign. Turning towards him slowly, she clarified what she had just said. “Athena. My name is Athena Janet Drake. You can call me Thea.” And with that she removed her mask. True to her word, there stood Athena Drake, heir to Drake Industries, known child genius, his freaking neighbor, and apparently raising thief Kitten.

 

            Jason stood there, mouth gaping like a dumbfounded idiot, before being able to comprehend the bomb that had just been dropped on him. Okay then…

 

            “Well… It’s nice to meet you, Thea.” Jason reached for his mask and removed his as well. He stretched his hand out to her like she did all those years ago. “My name is-“

 

            “Jason Peter Todd.” She filled in, cutting him off again, as she took his hand to shake. As she let go, she tilted her head away, blushing. “I’ve known for a while now. Wasn’t that hard to figure out.” He stood there, frozen, like gaping fish again at her second confession of the night.

 

            “How long have you known?” Kitten- no, Thea never ceased to amaze him in one way or another. Though, Bruce was not going to be happy when he found someone had figured out who Robin was and possibly Batman.

 

             “Let’s make a deal. You come back as quick as possible, and I’ll tell you the whole story. Sound good?” Athena smirked, while Jason pretended to think over the bargain.

 

            “You drive a hard bargain, but….. You got yourself a deal.” He stuck his hand out again to shake on it, but Thea had something in mind. She forwent his hand and instead grabbed his face and pulled it down to hers and gently pressed her glossy lips on his chapped ones. As fast as the kiss began, it sadly ended just as swiftly. Jason had a goofy smile drawn across his face. “What was that for?”

 

            She smile mischievously at him. “To seal the deal with a kiss. Come back soon, and you’ll get more for free.” And with that, she turned and left, flying across the rooftops with a grace he had only ever seen in a cat, leaving behind a bird with a stupid grin upon his face.

 

            Jason left the next day for Africa with the hope his personal mission would be over quickly.

 

            But it did end quickly. Instead, he died.

 

            And, then he came back, but it would be awhile still before he saw his kitten again.


	2. The Unwitting Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited May 14, 2019. This part is covering Jason's death, sort of. Some details about his mother are wrong, but just go with it. It's Fanfiction.

            Athena remembers the autumn night he left, never to return the same. The heat of summer had long faded, and the autumn’s chill had already come in to take its place. Athena’s new suit was doing a great keeping out the chill, except for on her face. The wind threatened to undo her flimsy braid, but her focus was directed at the idiot who thought running off to Ethiopia was a good idea, birth mother or not. He didn’t need her. Jason already had Bruce, Dick, and Alfred. Weren’t they enough? Wasn’t she enough?

 

Yeah, she knew who the Batman was, and subsequently who the Robins also were. She figured it all out when she was only eight years old and long before she ever met Selina on those rooftops following her then heroes around with her camera. To this day, she still doesn’t know how Selina found her when the Batman couldn’t even tell he was being tailed. But that’s all ancient history now.

 

            Now, she got the honor to watch this amazing person grow into himself. She got to the kindness in his heart as he protected the street kids from potential kidnappers, his honor grow as he defended the ladies of the night from abusive Johns, and how well he filled out, transforming from a gangly kid to muscular young man. It was hard not to fall for him. An endeavor Athena can proudly say she failed. However, he was still being an idiot! She knew they that he and Batman were having some issues at home; Jason has more than once complained to her about how Bruce was too restrictive and expected too much from him. However, this recent fight must have been especially bad because Jason normally wouldn’t pull anything this extreme. Talk about it, yes, but actually do it? No.

           

            Currently, the two of them were standing on a roof top waiting for Selina and Bruce to finish their familiar game of cat and flying mouse. It was rare outside of these times that Athena got to see her little songbird. Well, not that he was little anymore but still. She wanted to enjoy their short time together, but how could Jason ever think she would be okay with him just running off? To Africa?! Oh, and the way he just off-handedly told her like it was no big deal. She couldn’t look at him.

 

            “Kitten? Oh, come on. It’s not a big deal. I just need some time away from Bruce. We aren’t really on good terms right now.” He tried to get in front of her, but she just turned away from him again and snuck her nose up and crossed her arms.

           

            “Hmph!” She really didn’t care if she acting like a spoiled child right now. She wasn’t about to give him an inch just so he could take a mile and even begin to think she was okay with this in the slightest

 

            “Kitten, please…” Jason pleaded, obviously not happy with how his best friend was acting towards him. After a pause, he surrendered to her stubbornness. “I found my birth mother.” Athena flinched at this news. She knew he still insecurities about this aspect of his life, but she couldn’t relent. Her flinch did not go by unnoticed by the young man behind her. “That’s why I’m going to Ethiopia. I found out she is a volunteer nurse there. I want… I need to meet her. You told me how the only reason you get away with doing all this because your parents are never around. I know you wish they were in your life more. So, please, understand.”

           

            She did. Once, before meeting Selina, there was a point she would have done anything for even a bit of her parents attention, let alone approval and praise. So, in a way, she understood. Bruce wasn’t the most cuddly and open person, so seeking out a possibly more nurturing parent wasn’t a stretch to believe. It was then she decided that no matter how incredibly stupid she knew this plan to be, and it very much was, she would stand behind him on his decision and support him. She was so going to regret this.

 

            “I’ll be back before you can even tell I’m even gone, Kitten.” Jason said, still unaware of her change in resolve. “Kitten-“

 

            “Athena.” This was her giving him the mile. Hey, just because she was going along with his plan, didn’t mean she could find some sort of incentive to bring him back sooner.

 

            “What?”

 

            Athena drew in a steady breathe and let her shoulders fall as she released the breathe. Quickly building her nerve, she finally turned to face him. “Athena. My name is Athena Janet Drake. You can call me Thea.” And with that she removed her mask, show him her face for the first time.

           

            Then, the idiot had the audacity to look stupefied. Athena laughed internally, happy she could surprise even after all this time. With that, she struck up the most important bargain she ever would make. The promise for possibly more for his swift return. Then, it felt like something out a romantic movie, where the princess kisses her knight before he leaves on his heroic journey. But now when Athena looks back on that moment now, knowing what was about to come, it feels like those scenes in WWII movie her dad liked to watch where the girl kisses her soldier good-bye, not knowing she was kissing him for the last time.

 

            It wouldn’t be until the next month that she would learn what happen to her Robin, her Jason. No one told her, she had to find out from Harley Quinn that he had been murdered by the Joker.

           

            Athena had been making her way over to Selina’s apartment after sneaking out of her family estate. Despite the cold, the night was relatively clear and the stars could be see and the moon glowed beautifully, not too dim and not too bright. The night was everything a romantic movie would ever want to be. Her thoughts briefly shifted over to Jason and wondering when he would be returning. Three weeks had pasted since that night on the city where she gave him her first kiss.  Her cheek flushed a rosy pink at the thought of that kiss. Before she knew it, she was outside of the window to Selina’s apartment. But before she could knock to let her mentor know she was there, she glanced inside and saw Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn there, and for some reason, Harley was a complete wreck. Quickly side-stepping out of sight, hoping no one saw her, she listened in on their conversation. It seems she hadn’t missed much.

 

            Selina held the weeping lady clown close, trying but failing to console her. Ivy was in the kitchen making what looked like her special herbal tea to help calm Harley’s nerves.

 

            “Harley, shh… It’s okay. He can’t get you here.” Cooed Selina. So, the Joker was involved. There were little Harley Quinn feared, and even fewer who were male. It would be a safe bet that they were talking about the Joker.

 

            “No, Kitty, -hic- ya don’t get it! -hic-” Harley meekly cried into Selina’s chest. No doubt ruining the nice silk tank she wore, not that Selina would mind. “Mistah J didn’t -hic- hurt me. He- he…”

 

            Whatever the Joker did must have really shook up Harley up for her to be like this. Harley really was a nice person, but her hands were not clean, thanks to the Clown Prince of Gotham. Ivy finished the tea and brought some over for Harley. “Here, Harls, drink this. It will help.” Harley breathed in hard and slowly pulled herself away from Selina motherly comfort. Thanking Ivy, she carefully took the drink and try to pull herself together enough to tell her worried friends what had happened.

 

            The former psychiatrist sniffled, finally calming down enough to speak. “He didn’t- didn’t hurt me, but this…. This the worst thing I’ve evah seen him do. I-I don’t know where to start.” Her nerves were visibly building up a again. Harley took a breath. “He…uh… called me from Africa a coupla weeks ago, sayin’ a had a found a very fun play thing. At the time I- I he was talkin’ about a new bomb or some fancy gun, ‘cuz those are always fun, ya know. So when I got to where he-“ Harley was having a difficult time calming down now. Athena ears perked up at the word ‘Africa.’

 

            “Shh… Its okay, baby. Take your time. There is no rush. We’re here for you.” Ivy spoke in a low calm voice and moved to the other side of Harley, sandwiching her between Selina and herself.

 

            But Harley did seem to like that. Practically slamming the tea cup down on Selina’s nice coffee table, Harley screamed “No! Ya don’t get it. I’ve helped the Joker do many, many horrible things, but this… was the worst. Pam, Selina…” Her voice got real low, almost to the point that if Athena hadn’t been purposefully trying to listen, she would have not heard her at all.

 

            “Joker… Robin is dead…”

 

            What. The world around Athena stopped. Air eluded her lungs. This damn city wouldn’t stop spinning around. She couldn’t hear Harley begin to cry again for the boy she felt she failed to save, and she couldn’t hear the other woman try to console and promising that she wasn’t at fault. In fact she could barely even hear the blood in her vein rushing and pounding in her ears. Or maybe she was hearing it too much.

 

However, while she pondered this thought, she let her guard slip and Selina must have seen. Or someone saw her or something. She didn’t know, but Selina had opened the window and, as if on autopilot, Athena crawled inside. She couldn’t hear Selina asking Athena what she was doing here. She didn’t answer her but stared on as Harley only cried harder as she realized the young Cat had heard her confession. Selina wrapped her arms around her apprentice before her legs gave out. Were her legs really that weak right now? She hadn’t even notice.

 

The girls all cried that night for the life cut short and the possibilities stolen.

 

The years that followed that event only went down hill from there. First, her mother died, and while she loved her mother, what Athena truly mourned the fact that she really got a chance to know her mother. Not long after that, Drake Industries was bought out by Wayne Enterprises, forcing her now alcoholic father and her out of her childhood home and mother’s family estate. About a year after that, her father was murdered. She was a penniless orphan by the time she turned sixteen. She moved in with Selina for a year as she fought to have herself emancipated from the state. On her seventeenth birthday, Selina gifted her with a new cat suit, with thigh high heeled boots and new belt, because he old one was becoming too small, and told her that she was ready to stand on her own. From then on, Athena completely threw herself into her work. She still occasionally worked with Selina for a job but mostly worked on her own.

 

By now there was a new Robin, one who claimed to be the true son and heir of the Batman. Athena found him to be a pretentious, little brat, so every time she ran into him while on a mission, she made it her goal to push all his buttons. Nightwing had come back to Gotham after Jason’s death and helped Batman while maintaining his own standing.  

 

But it was the week before her eighteenth birthday that she saw him. Red Hood, Crime Alley’s new crime lord. Up to this point, Kitten had not crossed paths with the killer by both chance and choice. She normally avoided Crime Alley because there was next to nothing worth stealing there and what was, Athena hadn’t the heart to take it from the poor soul who owned it. However, what really kept Kitten away from Red Hood was the fact she feared the man she heard the so many tales about. Yes, there where the stories of him protecting the working ladies and keeping the drugs away from the kids, but she heard what he did to the ones who crossed him or stood in his way. She didn’t even want to risk it.

 

But then the night she had to meet him came. Well, meet isn’t the quite the right word. It’s more like got caught while stealing by him. She wasn’t stealing for profit. No, someone had hired her repossess it and return it to its rightful owner. Don’t worry, she did her homework and the person and request all checked out. But on the same roof top where she had her first meeting with her Jason, that’s she finally ran into the Red Hood.

 

Note, there was very little in Gotham that she didn’t know even a little about. She could tell you about the shipments Malone had coming in on Pier 5 tonight. She knew where the Riddler was currently hiding out. She could point out which penthouse Ra’s was sipping his oolong tea in. (Athena hated working with Ra’s, he paid well.) Her web of connection spread further than the Penguin’s network, thanks to the connection formed while still under Catwoman’s wing and her skills and abilities with computers. (Boredom once tempted her to hack into the Bat Computer, and she succeeded quite easily. The only person to ever pull one over her in the technical front was Oracle, Barbra Gordon, the first Batgirl.) But the identity of the Red Hood was an unknown answer to her, much to her chagrin.

 

She climbed out onto the roof with her ill-gotten gains. The mission was quiet up until this point, and while this did put her nerves on end, she was grateful for the relatively simple mission. She was barely half-way out the window, when heard him clear his throat. Freezing at this, Athena knew she was caught. She crawled the rest of the way out slowly, taking the time to figure a way out of this. As she turned around, expecting to see one of the Bats, she stilled at the sight of him. The Red Hood was a sight to behold. Even as he leaned against the wall, she could see his clothes wrap around his large muscles and wide shoulders. And those thighs… hmm.. She wouldn’t mind taking a bite out of those bad boys.

 

She heard him chuckle lowly at her checking him. Shit, focus. He may be hot but not the point right now.

 

“Like what you see, Kitten?” She could hear him smirking.  Straightening herself out, she put her most seductive act on in hopes to distract him as she continued to formulate her getaway.

 

“Maybe. Wouldn’t you like to know?” Her hips swayed as Kitten stalked over to the unknown man. “I mean, I think we might be able to come to an agreement if you really do.” God, she hated flirting. Selina was so much better at it. She preferred outwitting her opponents.

 

He pushed himself off the wall, meeting her halfway. He reached over and gently brushed her long hair back and leaned down, speaking into her ear. “Heh, as much as would love to see what is under the leather, Baby Cat, I’m not about to fall for your jail bait trap.” She tensed up. How did he know she wasn’t legally an adult yet? “I am, however, so very curious as to what valuable piece the Gotham City Museum is losing this time.”

 

The crime lord vigilante made for the tube with the stolen painting in it. But before he could reach it, Athena’s training kicked in and she quickly grabbed his arm and kicked his knee in, allowing her twist to the larger opponent around and onto his knee.

 

“Ah, ah, ah. Sorry, sweet heart, can’t let you do that. But, now that I have you down there for the moment, is anyway I could convince you to let me and this paint go free?” She was tired, having not slept in four days and running on fumes and coffee. She just wanted to go to bed and get some sleep before returning the painting to its rightful owner.

 

“Hmm… Let me think… How about a kiss?” Athena squinted her eyes distrustfully.

 

“A kiss? That’s it? Seems a bit too easy, don’t you think?” She questioned him.

 

“Maybe, but I think it’s a fair trade. A kiss form a work of art in exchange for a work of art.” She was glad he wasn’t facing her because her face became cherry red at his compliment.

 

“Aren’t I just jailbait?” She retorted.

 

“Yes, but next time we kiss, I’ll wait until after your birthday.” She thought it over. She was really tired. In hindsight, she should have questioned how he knew how old she was, but it hadn’t crossed her mind. Maybe she should listen to Selina next she decides to lecture her poor sleeping habits. It would only be one kiss, so it would be no big deal. Right?

 

“Fine. Come on, let’s get it over with.” She released her hold on him, allowing him to stand up.

 

“Close your eyes.” She did, and she could hear what she suspected was his helmet opening up. Then, she could feel his gentle breathe on her face and could smell his musk. He cupped her face gently, like she was worth more than anything below their feet. She shuddered, causing Red Hood to chuckle. It had been forever since she was treated so preciously. Finally, rough lips landed on hers. The kiss was innocent and over quicker then Athena would have liked. It reminded her of the kiss she share with Jason all those years ago. She didn’t realize she started crying until she felt him wipe a single tear away. “Count to five, then open your eyes. “

 

            “One.” His smell and breathe disappeared.

 

            “Two.” His thumb caressed her cheek.

 

            “Three.” His hand fell from her face.

 

            “Four.” She heard him shuffle away from her.

 

            “Five.” Her ice blue eyes opened to the Gotham skyline. The Red Hood no where in sight. Gathering herself bearings, she made her way home and got some well-earned rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if it came across as so, but I based older Athena's catsuit on Anne Hathaway's Catwoman suit. Selina's suit will look like the ones in the Arkham games, boobs peaking out and all, but I always loved Hathaway's Catwoman. The only change I'm making is making the heel wider for better balance and to be more durable. And before someone attacks me for overly sexualizing Selina, my head cannon of her is that, as Catwoman she purposefully sexualizes herself as a battle tactic, but as plain Selina she isn't an overly sexual person.


	3. The Business Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited May 14, 2019. This chapter was going to be much longer, but then it got too long and didn't flow quite right. I broke it into two, and I'll be covering the second half to this chapter's new meeting from Athena's perspective in the next chapter.

 

            Oh, how Jason had missed her. Much to his pleasure and grief, his prediction of her beauty had come true and more. She still only reached to about mis mid-chest, but… Damn, would he be lying if he said she didn’t fill out oh so nicely. He was going to have some very good dreams about Kitten in this new suit she wore. Her straight raven hair now fell to her waist, framing her just perfectly. The baby fat had melted off Athena’s face, allowing sharper and more angular features to present themselves. But he bet, that if he could ever get close enough to her again, Athena’s eyes would still be the same frozen blue, as brilliant and wise as the goddess she was named after, as they were when they were younger. The crime lord had to wonder how many men, and maybe women, had fallen for those eyes as he had all those years ago. God, Jason could feel that little green monster try to climb up and out his chest at the thought, and he wasn’t talking about the Pit.

 

            Jason had returned to Gotham two years ago, when he was eighteen years old, two years after his abrupt resurrection thanks to Ra’s Al Guhl. It was shortly after his return and a bit before his debut as the Red Hood that he learned of his Kitten’s reputation. Following Selina’s footsteps (paw prints?),  Athena became a renowned thief on her own, taking ill-gotten items and returning them to their rightful owners, and creating an expansive underworld web of information trade, spanning out further than just Gotham. Ever since learning this, Jason has made sure to keep tabs on her, following her movements for as long as he could before losing her trail.

 

             However, he knew she was avoiding him. There had been many time where he spotted her actively avoiding his territory in Crime Alley, and other times he noticed her hidden form flee as fast as it could when, let’s say for example, an intense fight between him and Batman and Nightwing tumbles into the jewelry store she was robbing. Now, hearing this, you would think she did this based on common sense (mind you, he knows she has), but after watching her for awhile now, he has found she will only flee as quickly as possible when Red Hood appears. Which, frankly, kind of hurt, but he does understand. To her, Jason died at the hands of the Joker almost five years ago. She couldn’t know Jason was the Red Hood unless someone one in the Bat Family had told. To Athena, the Red Hood was someone to avoid.

 

            Which is why he now waited on the roof of the building as she robbed the Gotham City Museum. Jeez, you would think the museum would get better security after all these years. He watched as she climbed out the window she left open for herself, a long cylindrical object slung over her shoulder with, no doubt, some painting inside of it. Jason notice that Kitten didn’t seem aware to his presence, so he cleared his throat in that way people do to garner someone’s attention.  When she froze, he had to keep himself from laughing. He wasn’t here to stop her or arrest her, but she didn’t need to know that. When she climbed the rest of her way out of the window and turned to look at him, he almost offered her a towel to wipe the drool up with. He know he, also, became pretty damn good-looking, in his not so humble opinion. Jason couldn’t help the laugh this time, snapping her out her trance.

 

            “Like what you see, Kitten?” He smirked. He avoided using her real name, fearing and knowing it would only scare her even further away from him. Kitten began to walk slowly over to him, roll those beautiful hips of hers as she did.

 

            “Maybe. Wouldn’t you like to know?” Her flirting had gotten better, thinking back to all the times she would practice on him as kids. He could tell she was uncomfortable in her attempt to using seduction as a way to distraction. The Red Hood knew Athena preferred to out-smart her opponents, over Selina’s method. “I mean, I think we might be able to come to an agreement if you really do.” Again, he felt the green monster pound in his chest, wondering how many other people she had made that offer to, whether she meant it or not. Pushing himself off the wall to distract himself momentarily, he stood to his full height and met her half way.

 

            “Heh, as much as would love to see what is under the leather, Baby Cat, I’m not about to fall for your jail bait trap.” Jason whispered in her ear, after brushing her soft hair aside. If he remembered correctly, Athena had about a week before she could be legally making those offers. “I am, however, so very curious as to what valuable piece the Gotham City Museum is losing this time.”

 

            He began reaching for the art currently hidden behind her back, but quickly found himself on his knees, facing away from her, and with his arm twisted behind his back. Not going to lie, that hurt. When did she get so strong? He know Kitten could fight and was fast, but still, Jason wasn’t expecting that. He had to give it to her, still surprising him after all these years.

 

            “Ah, ah, ah. Sorry, sweet heart, can’t let you do that. But, now that I have you down there for the moment, is anyway I could convince you to let me and this painting go free?”

 

            “Hmm… Let me think… How about a kiss?” This wasn’t what he had originally planned. If fact, he had actually come to Kitten to ask for her in getting some information he needed in taking a drug gang down that he had found out was dealing to kids. Honestly, he had been trying to cut back in killing people. He was admittedly very angry when start out as the Red Hood and killing scum seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that crime had gone down a lot, the need to kill people had gone down, too. Don’t get it wrong, he still killed, but only the worst of the worst as a message to other in Crime Alley and Gotham. But he could talk to her about it another time.

 

“A kiss? That’s it? Seems a bit too easy, don’t you think?”

 

            “Maybe, but I think it’s a fair trade. A kiss from a work of art in exchange for a work of art.” He could tell her face was brighter than a firetruck.

 

            “Aren’t I just jailbait?” She said, throwing his earlier word right back at him.

 

            “Yes, but next time we kiss, I’ll wait until after your birthday.” She paused at this, and he could feel her weighing her option before finally deciding.

 

            She released her hold on, telling him her answer long before her words could. “Fine. Come on let’s get it over with.”

 

Taking a second to finally study her face up close, he was right in his earlier musings; her eyes were still like ice and wise beyond their years, wiser than they should have ever needed to be. “Close your eyes.” When she did as she was told, Jason was disappointed at the loss of the sight of them, but he could have her knowing it’s him just yet, and quickly opened up his helmet up and got close to her face. As he held her face like an archeologist would hold a priceless artifact, she shuddered, causing Jason to lightly chuckle for the third time that night. Then it was time. He gently kissed her glossy lips. He kept it short despite his whole being protesting his retreating from her sweet mouth. It was bitter-sweet in the end, and Athena must have felt similarly because he had to wipe away a tear on her cheek. “Count to five, then open your eyes.”

 

“One.” He pulled his face away from hers, heart weighing heavy in his ribcage.

 

“Two.” His gloved hand brushed Athena’s porcelain white cheek one last time, bitterly happy he was allowed to hold her again.  

 

“Three.” But he needed to get going. He let his hand drop, put his helmet back on, and began his departure from the roof top.

 

“Four.” God, he wished he could have stayed. Thrown his helmet off and let her see his face and know he was alive.

 

            “Five.” But he knew that he couldn’t do that.

 

            Not yet anyways.

 

            It wouldn’t be until three weeks later that he sought out his Kitten again. This time, when he went to ask for her aide, he was going to stay on task because he now really needed that information on that drug ring that had made its home in Crime Alley. Somehow in the few week, their business had really kicked up. Some of the homeless people had also began to disappear, and he believe that to be connected to the drug ring. Normally, he would have just busted into their den by now, guns blazing, and shut them down, but this whole case felt wrong since the beginning. Some of the resources and equipment they had gotten would have taken a lot of money to get, more then they should have. So far, he has not been able to trace back any hidden investors back to the group, but something in his gut told him to keep digging.

 

            He could have gone to the Bats and asked for their help. They weren’t necessarily at each other throats anymore, but they were definitely not allies. Alfred has been the only one to forgive him and try and reach out to him. No one in their messed up family deserved Alfred. Dick and Jason were on civil terms with each other, if not strained, but anytime Dick and Jason tried to connect in one form or another, the little hell spawn always finds a way to interfere. It was nice to know that Dick was at least making some sort of effort to reach out to him. Bruce has not once tried to reach out to him… Well, okay, he, surprisingly, was actually on pretty good term with Barbra and could have asked for her help on this matter, but their computer seemed to be on a separate server that could only be hack in person.

 

            And he was trying to get close to Athena, so yeah.

 

            And, oh boy, Kitten is not an easy person to set up a meeting with. After that meeting a couple weeks ago, she practically fell off the grid. Jason did have to reach out to Barbara to arrange a meeting with Kitten after a week and a half of trying. So there he was, after another week and a half, waiting in the alley behind the coffee shop, between Hamilton and 9th Street. Kitten was almost 15 minutes late, and in their lines of work wasn’t really a good thing. Worried she was in trouble, he started to go look for her, but as a turned around to leave the alley way in search of his childhood friend, he spots her just standing there with a large coffee in hand. Jason was not amused.

 

            “You know, clients find it rude to keep them waiting.”

 

            The thief slightly bobbed her head side to side in mock contemplation over his words. “True, but you’re not one of my clients. You are someone I need to be careful around, and to do that I need coffee and the jerk in front of me had ordered like ten drinks, so I had to wait for my sweet, sweet caffeine fix.”

 

            “Still, you could have called.” Jason huffed back.

 

            “Aw, you act so cute when you’re pouting.” She said as she strolled up and patted him on the cheek with her coffee-less hand. Jason does not pout. “Besides, when I figured out it was you who wanted to meet with me, I knew I just had to mess with you.” She took another look drink of her coffee. “Also, I don’t have your number.”

 

            “How did you-? You shouldn’t have able to…” Jason was shocked. He went through Barbra to arrange this. Bruce couldn’t even beat Oracle at her own game.

 

            “Please, I am as familiar with Oracle’s flavor of coding as she is with mine.” She explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She took one last gulp of her coffee before throwing away the now empty cup into the nearest waste bin.

 

            “If you knew it was me, why did you show up?”

 

            “Because if Babs was will to help you, then that must mean you’re a better person than then the one I first believed you to be. So, I decided to give you a chance.” Calm were her words, but he could hear still some apprehension left in her voice. However, to hear her say that, that she could possibly trust him day hopefully, he felt lighter than he had in years. “Anyways, do you have a job for me or are you planning on blackmailing me into another kiss?”

 

            “Yep, I got a job, and I think that you just might like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I first wrote this, I wasn't planning on a plot, but one formed. So, yeah... Also did you guys catch my showing up 15 minutes late with Starbucks joke? Hopefully, I get back to you guys with a new chapter show. Feel free to dog me to post fast. I might motivate me to get my shit together and write the next few chapters in a relatively timely manor.


	4. A Missed Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took forever. I'm sorry this is a shorter chapter, but I kept getting stuck on how I wanted thing to go. Enjoy!

Athena knew going into this that she would be meeting up with the Red Hood. For almost two weeks after that fateful kiss, she managed to essentially let herself drop off the radar of Gotham’s underground. She wanted to take a short hiatus and not take any jobs during this period, allowing her to focus on some personal matters. For example, she legal became an adult, turning eighteen years old. She did not celebrate it much, but she did go out to dinner with Selina to a nicer restaurant Athena had been wanting to go to but never seemed to have time to. Harley and Ivy showed up later, and all the girls had a Lord of the Rings movie watching sessions. This became Athena’s favorite birthday to date. 

So, when she got the alert, telling her someone wanted to meet for a job, she also blow it off, but then she was that the message came from an IP address Athena knew Oracle liked to use for the Bat Family when setting up meetings for sting operations. If Oracle was willing to work with and help him, maybe she could give him a chance, even if she didn’t know who lie beneath the mask. Yet.

Honestly, she mean to keep him waiting. That asshole took forever in his order. It was fun, though, taking a second to watch him on the roof top as waited for her to arrive. And when the greetings and small were out of the way, Athena got down to business.

“Anyways, do you have a job for me or are you planning me into another kiss?” She dryly flirted, getting to the point of the meeting.

“Yep, I got a job, and I think that you just might like it.” 

“Alrighty then, you have my attention.” Athena got herself comfortable on the nearby dumpster, crossing her legs and allowing herself to focus on what Red Hood had to say. 

Red Hood straightened himself out, becoming serious. Athena found this very attractive. “I need you to brake into the base of a gang that has been growing exponentially in Crime Alley. At first glance, they appear to be a normal gang, but something about how fast they are growing and they resources they have on hand seem to indicate some sort of mysterious investor pulling strings in the back. I can take care of the gang no problem, but I worry if I do that, I won’t be able to trace the backer to them. What I need from you is for you to infiltrate their hideout, hack their mainframe, and hopefully be able to track down their mysterious beneficiary.” 

It seemed like a straight forward job: Break in, hack the systems, and get out. “Okay… Now, I’m not saying no, but why me? You could have asked Oracle. She could have easily done this.” It is always good to question the motive your clients to make sure there are no ulterior motives that could screw her over. Though usually you wouldn’t ask them directly to their face. 

“Ah, yeah. Honestly, I could have hacked them myself-” Athena thought that sounded fake but whatever. “-but their computers seems to be a closed server, making them near impossible to hack unless you have time or you hack the computer in person.” Ah, Athena understood. She remembers hearing about what the Joker had done to the Police Commissioner’s daughter. Athena remembers talking to Barbra, back before becoming Kitten and Dick was still Robin, at a fundraiser gala in support of the Gotham City Police Department. However, Athena did find the new Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, very agreeable to the position. “And maybe I just wanted to see your beautiful face, again.” 

Athena deadpanned at his comment. Gosh talking to him was going to cause her whip lash one day, flipping from worried to serious to flirty so quickly. After rolling her eyes, Kitten jumped off her perch. “Alright, ignoring that last comment, I’m will to take the job. Now here comes the fun part: I get paid a $50,000 minimum for doing this job, whether or not I find the information you want; if I find what you’re looking for, my rates rise to $80,000; and if I run into any complications that you the employer were aware of but failed to warn me of, I get to keep to keep the information. I will be willing to sell the information to you, but for a much higher price than originally settled upon on this day.” She knew her asking price was low, but she rarely took bigger jobs. Beside, she actually made more earnings in selling information to other thieves and such than actually doing her own jobs. She just took these for fun. 

“Seems fair,” Red Hood said as he sort of shrugged his shoulders in agreement. 

“Alright, now-” Athena started, about ask for the details of the job.

“Hey, wait! I need to make my counter offer,” Red Hood interrupted. “Now, I am willing to offer you a flat rate of $500,000 for this job-” What? “-regardless of if you find if this gang does have an investor or not. Not because you don’t have the skills to, but there not be one. However, I, also, get your number.”

“Oh, and why would I give you my number?” Athena put up a flirty façade, but she knew he could see right through it, no that she cared. It was then that, at some point, the two masked anti-heroes had gotten rather close to each other with about a foot of distance between them that seemed to be closing.

“That way I can simply slide into your DMs if I require your expertise on any future jobs. And if you want set up a time for our date.” 

“Funny. I don’t seem to remember agreeing to a date.” 

“Not yet,” he simply replied. Athena thought over the offer. That is a lot of money, and she could do a lot with it. She did want to buy her family home back, and she almost had enough to pay for it in full. Every cent counted. 

“Fine. You have yourself a deal. I have the information you want in three days.” And with that, Athena made her way towards the alley’s entrance.

“Hey, what about your phone number? That was part of the agreement.” He called out.

With out turning around, Kitten called out, “You’ll get it when I finish the job.” 

As she predicted the job was pretty easy. Hacking the computer showed her that this small time gang was being backed by one of the city councilmen, Councilman Wilma Goldstein, a member of one of Gotham’s many old money families who joined the world of politics after growing bored of the business world. Athena guessed that politics just wasn’t paying enough for her if the size of the cut she was taking from her drug side business was anything to go by. Despite what every cop would tell you, crime does actually pay really well, but only you don’t get caught and know the right people. 

Kitten reached out to Oracle to get in tracking Red Hood down. Oracle helped locate him, placing him in what she assumed was his own safe house in Crime Alley, a former movie theater near the border of his territory. After arranging a gaming session with the red headed genius, Athena made her way over to his safe house. 

The former heiress parkoured her way across town to the more sketchy side of town. Which was a shame because even as a child while following Batman and the first Robin around thought the buildings had such character and beautiful design. I almost broke her heart to see such lovely architecture start to weather due to neglect. When she She had expected Barbra to have had sent over some sort of warning to the hooded vigilante, but it appeared that Athena had caught the Red Hood unawares. It was daylight out at this time and a pretty nice day spring, almost summer, day, and he had left his windows open to left in the nice breeze. Her first thought was to prank him, but survival instinct kicked in and tell her that may not be a wise decision, but she did want a look in to the mysterious man’s life to see if she could find out anything about him. 

Looking into his apartment, Athena peered into the living room with open plan allowing easy access and visuals to the kitchen. The room was minimally furnished but very well kept and clean. She couldn’t see anywhere he could be storing his gear, so she assumed that he did so in another space in the apartment. 

However, her spying was cut short by a man in only his underwear stepping out of what she assumed was the master bedroom. The young man appeared to be not much older than she was. He must have just woken up because when he yawn and stretched his arms up behind his head, she got to watch as his scarred skin stretch over well-toned muscles that betrayed his strength and power. He had a six-pack that she could use to wash her clothes on, legs that could crush a watermelon between, and shoulders broad enough to carry the world on. Okay, who turned the heat on? On the top of his head was black like hers but a shock of pure white stood out in the center of his hairline. This lead her eyes to trail down to his face. And, oh boy! His chiseled jaw sported a five ‘o’clock shadow, showing he hadn’t shaved in a few days. His light pink lips were chap, but well defined. 

Then she saw his eyes, and froze. They were the same blue-hazel she thought she would never see again. It couldn’t be… Could it? 

She left the flash drive on his window sill and ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't ever think I said this before, but these are unbeta read so sorry for all the grammatical errors. While rereading the earlier chapters, I saw all my mistakes. I plan on going back and cleaning it all up when I finish the story, but until then, I'm sorry. My editing style is to edit in time with writing. All my English teacher I ever had hated me for this. Because like you know how like in elementary school they teach you those step for writing essays. Like you first make a flow chart or web chart, then you make a rough draft, turn it in, they revise it and tell you what you did wrong (even though how yo may have done something was intentional to get a point across, but NooOOOOooo, points get deducted because the teacher didn't like it or are stupid and shallow to see the deeper meaning! >:( ) then you edit it , may be do this a few times, then then turn in your final draft. Well I hated seeing all my grammar mistakes in my first drafts, so I would go back and fix them before hand in my rough drafts to the teacher. But that wasn't the problem. The problem I had was I would have the first like half perfectly done and edited, but my second half would either be nonexistent or barely outlined, looking more like quick notes than paragraphs. Can you tell I am still bitter towards my English classes still?
> 
> So like, that's how I write, editing as I go, but because I'm looking at it for so long, I become a bitter numb to my mistakes and such. So, if there is someone who beta my story, talk to me. I've never done it on this sight, but if you do me this favor, I'll be more than happy to return the favor if you like.


	5. An Impromptu Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHH!!!!!! hi, sorry about the delay. Please keep in mind that I work part-time and go to school full-time. Anyways, 2 more chapter after this.

Fuck! She saw him. Jason had just woken up when he saw the Cat in his window. He had been out late the previous night taking care of some Two-Face goons and then running into the demon brat and getting into a fight with the squirt until Dick showed up and tore Robin away from Red Hood. For the record, Jason was totally winning, not that Damian will admit to that. 

But that is not the point right now! The point is the girl he is in love with just saw him in his underwear! Okay, she may have, also, just saw his face and figured out who he was, was angry with him for lying and hiding his true identity from her, and was probably never going to let him anywhere near her again, let alone ever talk to him again. 

On second thought, the latter maybe a bit more important than Athena seeing his boxers. 

Letting out a curse under his breathe, he ran to the window his Kitten had fled from moments from not a minute before. Jason looked out the window to see if he could follow her trail. Luckily, he couldn’t find any trace of her because, honestly, he didn’t want to spotted chasing a girl down while still only in his underwear. That would not be something he would want to be known for. He climbed back inside, and as he did, he found the flash drive she must have been here to bring him. It must be the information he hired her to get for him. Shit, now he technically owed her money. 

This was not turning out to be his day. And it had only started. 

Taking the flash drive with him, Jason turned to face his apartment, not his safehouse but his actual apartment. He made his way back into his room and got dressed for the day. Combat boots (not the real kind), worn blue jeans, black T-shirt, and his favorite brown leather jacket made up his ensemble. Leaving his room once again, this time without any surprises, and made to his kitchen. The vigilante opened his fridge only to be met with disappointment at the lack of food. Closing the kitchen appliance full of disappointment and not food, Jason made a mental note to get more food later. 

So, now, here he was, hungry and at a loss at what to do. He couldn’t talk to Dick or Barbra; the two of them were having a… date? Just lunch? Hanging out? Jason didn’t know. It was hard to follow Dick’s love life sometimes, and Jason didn’t where the two were currently standing with each other, except that they were on friendly enough terms to still have a weekly lunch date with each other. Besides, all Dick had in the way of food is cereal. He could call Roy, but Jason didn’t want to bother the archer while he finally getting sometime with his daughter. Bruce was completely out of the question for obvious reasons. 

That left one person. Jason smiled at the thought of the best man he knew, Alfred. Bruce did not deserve this man. None of them deserved Alfred. Jason guessed that’s who he was going to talk to.

Jason left his apartment, went down to the garage, and hopped on to his motorcycle. He made his way towards the manor. Knowing that Bruce was at Wayne Industries for a meeting and that Demon Spawn was in school, forced there by Bruce, Jason figured it would safe enough to just go through the front door, so he parked his bike in a well hidden spot and made his way to the front door. Raising his hand to knock on the door, Jason paused. He hadn’t been there since before he left for Ethiopia, before he died. Steeling his nerves and shaking those thoughts away, the black haired man went to knock, but Alfred opened the door before he could. 

“Hello, Master Jason. Lunch will finished soon,” Alfred said and turned away to allow Jason entrance inside, like had been expecting him to arrive. That was one of the things Jason could never figure out, how Alfred knew before anyone else. 

Must be witchcraft, Jason finally decided before walking in. Walking into the Manor for the first time in years was strange to say the least. Once upon a time, he would have called this place home, but now he felt out of place walking through these old halls. Jason shook his head, letting the thoughts leave his head he wasn’t in the mood for this memory lane, and followed Alfred down to the kitchen area. When the two men arrived, Jason could smell the grilled cheese and tomato soup, one of his favorite meals. That confirms it, Alfred is a wizard!

“How did you…” Jason’s voice died off. Alfred pulled a chair out a the small table on the left side of the room. 

Alfred only smiled bitter-sweetly at his astonishment. “Simple, Master Jason. Is it not my job to take care of my family?” 

“Thank you, Alfred,” Jason smiled back. He walked over and took the seat Alfred pulled out for him and waited for the soup to finish brewing to perfection. The two stayed silent just enjoying each other’s company for the time being. It wasn’t an awkward silence, like with Bruce, or a silence that one or the other couldn’t stand, like with Dick. The grandfather figure always carried an air about him that could calm even the most anxiety riddled person. 

The soup finished, and Alfred brought Jason and himself over bowls of it along with two halves of a grilled cheese sandwich each. After setting the food down, the Wayne butler sat across from his adopted grandson. Jason immediately began to dig in, dunking the first half of grilled cheese into the deep red soup. The old Brit only deadpanned at this. “Now, I know you were taught better manners than what you are displaying, Master Jason.”

Jason blush in embarrassment. “Sorry, Alfred,” Jason said as he straighten up and began to eat with more tack. 

“So, what brings you over for this unexpected visit? Do not misunderstand, I have missed your company, but for you to come back to the Manor, it must be big.” Alfred inquired, delicately dipping his grill cheese into his soup before taking a bite.

Jason paused in his eating and wiped his mouth with the napkin supplied. Jason swallowed and started, “ You’re right, Alfred… I messed up big time.” Jason sat back in his chair, throwing his head back and covering his eyes. “Have you ever hurt someone so bad that you thought that they might never want to even look at you anymore?” 

“I cannot say that I have, but I know someone who has.”

“Oh, yeah? And how did that end? Did they ever make up or not?” Hope began to swell in his chest.

“Not yet. One day, I hope, the two stubborn fools will be able to talk to each other, and I hop I am still around to see that day.” Alfred answered semi-cryptically. “May I ask of whom you have hurt?”

“Do you remember Catwoman’s old protégé, Kitten? Well, before I… left… all those years ago, we had become really close. She had even revealed who she was to me right before Ethiopia. She even told she already knew who I was. She may even know who the rest of the Bat Family is, and she had never done anything to hurt us. She promised to tell me everything ,when I got back and then kissed for extra incentive. She was my first kiss, Alfred. 

“But then I died and later came back. Apparently, my death was just the beginning of a series of tragedies in her life. And when I came back, I never told her. I was so angry at Bruce at the time, that it never crossed my mind to tell her! Then, about a month ago, I caught her stealing from the museum, and in exchange for letting her go, I would get a kiss. I don’t know why I did it, but it felt so good to be even near again. But earlier today, she saw me, not as Red Hood, but as Jason Todd. She saw me and ran. To her, I was dead, and now I’m not and I never told her! God, I messed up so bad! What am I going to do, Alfred?” Jason didn’t realized how worked up and tense he had become until he felt the tears stream down his cheeks. He felt like a child again, confused and craving a caring hand to guide him. Alfred only watched with pitying eyes as the young man broke down. A beat later, Alfred got up and went around the table, kneeling down to get on Jason’s level.

“Listen here, sir. It is true, it appears you have hurt Miss Drake, but it will do neither of you any good to even things as they are. Give her time, Master Jason. This must be very hard on her, and you as well. If she cares about you like I believe her to, Miss Drake will eventually forgive you. Most likely after beating the dickens out of you,” Alfred offered in the way of advice. “ Just give her and yourself time.”

Jason swipe the tears from his eyes, and turned to older man confused. “Wait, how did you know who Kitten is? I never said her name.”

“No, you didn’t, but I have known Miss Drake longer than I have known you, or even Master Richard for that matter. However, I only ever learned of her… activities only after you death when one day, we both decide to visit your grave. And by the way, I whole heartedly approve of the woman you have chosen to love. Now, let’s not let our food get cold.” And with that, he returned to his seat. For the rest of the time, the two conversed on other topics and simply enjoyed the other’s long-missed company before Jason had to leave, promising to return for tea sometime soon.

It would not be until a few days later that Athena contacted him, wishing to meet, giving explicit instructions to come in civilian clothes and not as the Red Hood. Here was his chance to apologize and explain himself. He got to the meeting place a bit early and waited. He stood on the roof top and watched the sunset on the Gotham Harbor. 

“You know, I’ve seen a good amount to the world, but still think the sunsets here are the most beautiful,” said a tired and thoughtful voice that came from his right side. Jason jumped, quickly turning to face the voice’s owner. There she stood, watching the sunset, too. Long raven hair fluttered in the calm harbor breeze. Icy eyes were set ablaze by the reds and yellows of the setting sun. Pale skin glowed, appearing angelic. When the sun all but disappeared, she slowly turned to face him. The differences in their heights was very noticeable as they stood very close to the other.

“Athe-” He never even saw her right hook coming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of realized that I used Alfred's name a lot while writing this. Oh, well...


	6. The Interrupted Meeting and the Long Awaited Meeting

“Athe-” POW! 

Okay, in retrospect, maybe socking Jason in the face was not the most civil way to handle the situation, but to say that landing that punch square into that asshole’s jaw felt good would a huge understatement. Beside the jerk had it coming.

Right after fleeing form Jason’s apartment all those days ago, Athena had found herself in a trance, emotions she hadn’t felt in years rampaged in her head in tandem with bitter-sweet thoughts that swirled like a tornado.

Alive? Jason’s alive?- How is-? How is he-? Her heart pinged with unresolved grief and anger. How could they not tell her? How dare he not tell her that he was- that he had…? Happiness lifted her mind. Jason was alive! He wasn’t… -wasn’t dead! Then, doubt crept in with it needle-like fingers. Why didn’t anyone tell her? Did Jason not care for her anymore? Did Selina know? She would have told Athena if she had known, right? Right? At last, a minute ray of solemn hope shown through her turbulent mind. He kissed her. Maybe there was something still there after all. 

She didn’t snap out of her hypnotic state until she found that she feet had carried her all the way to the window outside of the Oracle’s den, Barbra’s home. After a beat, the thief recognized where she was perched, and fury flared up from deep within her drained being, fueling the impending confrontation. 

Using the training Selina had bestow her with all those years ago, the Cat slipped in through the window and found herself in the kitchen area. She could her laughter in the neighboring room which turned out to be a living area. The laughter belonged to Barbra, as expected, and Dick Grayson. Upon seeing him, Athena remembered that Babs and Dick still had weekly lunches. Athena couldn’t care about their roller-coaster of a relationship at this moment her own issues clouding her compassion. They had a chance to be together, and because they deceived her into believe Jason had been dead this whole time, her chance with Jason was probably stolen from her. They hadn’t noticed her yet. Batman would be disappointed with such carelessness.

“Did you know?” Athena heard her voice before realizing she had actually spoken. The laughter between the former Robin and Batgirl was quickly cut short as they whipped around to face the raven-haired woman. 

“Kitten, what are you doing here?” Dick jumped off the couch and into defensive stance. Athena had been wearing civilian clothes, a dark grey tank, blue skinny jeans, and boots, but she had also had her mask with the googles, clueing Dick in on who had invaded his friend’s home. 

Stepping forward, Athena stared desperately between the former Robin and Batgirl. “You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you were willing to help him, wasn’t it?” Athena could feel the tears beginning to form in her eyes, but she willed them not to fall. There would be time to cry later but not right now. Right now, she needed answers. 

“Kitten, what are you talking about?” Barbra asked as she maneuvered herself into a better position to look at the intruder. Anger boiled through her veins as Barbra continued to actively remain ignorant to what Athena say asking.

Her irritation must have been evident because Dick had begun to edge closer to the end of the couch, readying himself in case Athena decided to attack. Not that he really needed to worry in the end, but she could understand why he was doing it. Romantic or not, Dick loves Barbra and would do anything to protect her. Athena ignored the vigilante as he crept closer, locking in on the almost defenseless paraplegic, and ripped her mask off so the red head could look into her face and see the pain her omission had caused. 

“Yes, you do!” Athena accused. “Hood, Red Hood! You fucking knew! All you fucking Bats knew! You’ve known since the Red Hood began his reign of terror! You, Dick, Bruce, Alfred, and even that damn brat, Damian all probably knew!” And just as quickly as the flames came flooding into her, she felt the anger fleeing her heart. “Jason’s been alive this whole…” Athena could not hold back the flood in her eyes, and the tears burned across her cheeks. “…I was never told… Why?”

Two just stared in dumb silence. Barbra slowly squinted her eyes before throwing them wide open. “Athena? Athena Drake?” As the red-headed genius spoke her revelation, it hit Dick too. Kitten, protégée to Selena Kyle, master thief and hacker, known information dealer, was Athena Drake, the lonely little girl they had met all those years ago. 

At the sound of her name, Athena realized what she had just done. She had just revealed her hard kept secret identity to Oracle and Nightwing. She whipped her gaze down to stare at the mask in her hand. The gravity of this mistake was not lost on the newly legal adult, but she steeled herself, despite every instinct in her body telling her to get out of there. 

“Five years ago, I had to find out through Harley Quinn what had happen to Jason, and even then, it was because I accidently overheard her. Now, all these years later, it happens again, but this time, I had to find out by seeing a dead man walking,” Athena confessed. “Besides the Joker and Harley, I was probably one of the last people to see him before he died. He was my first friend and my first…” Athena let her voice trail off. “So, why Barbra? Why did you never tell me he was alive?”

Barbra took off her glasses and looked the Cat straight in the eyes. “Kitten, we-“

“Don’t lie to me. Please, just don’t lie to me anymore.”

The red head had the decency to look guilty. “I… I don’t know. I’m sorry.” 

“Fine. Whatever.” That was not the answer she wanted, but then again, Athena didn’t really know what she wanted to hear. Athena carefully placed her mask back on and quick left the way she came, fleeing for the second time that day. 

In the days following, Athena reduced herself to a tiny, wallowing ball of self-pity, refusing to leave her apartment for anything, not taking any jobs, and pretty much cutting off all communication to her. Her only friends in those days were her blankie, her shows, and the bitter temptress called coffee. The teen was pleasantly content in spending the rest of her days in this self-sentenced isolation. However, her days as a hermit were short lived because Selina was having none of it. 

After five days, Selina stormed into her adopted daughters home. At first, she bypassed the blanket burrito and headed into Athena’s room, but she quickly remerged and throw one of the more slutty dresses in Athena’s closet and a pair of sky-high heels at said girl. The dress was a very short cocktail dress that had a black to red gradient, starting with the black on the bottom, and the heels were simple six-inch stilettos. 

“Alright, go take a shower than go put these on. When you’re done, come to me, and I’ll do your make-up.”

Begrudgingly, Athena and Selina got ready for a girls night. This was what Athena needed, a girls’ night out. 

When the night ended, Selina stopped just before the former protégé’s door. Confused, Athena turned to look back at her. She wore a guilty look on her face. “You know, I didn’t either. If I did, you would have been the first person I told.” 

“I know,” Athena replied solemnly. 

“I had just found out myself today. Bruce told me what happened a couple of days ago.”

“An what did you do?”

“Well first, I slapped him for not telling me sooner.” The two laughed at that. “Then, I came to see you. It explains why you haven’t been talking to anybody.”

Athena smiled. This is why she loved Selina. When the world couldn’t be bothered with her, Selina gave a damn. “Thank you.” Athena went over to the older woman and hugged her. “I love you, Mama.”

Selina held her back and said, “I love you, too.” 

The next morning, Athena sent Jason a message telling him she wanted to meet up. At the meeting place, she watched as Jason watched the sunset before going to stand beside him. 

“You know, I’ve seen a good amount to the world, but still think the sunsets here are the most beautiful.” 

Jason jumped at her voice. When he tried to say her name, that is when she throw her right hook at his jaw. He stumbled back in pain and shock. 

“No, you are going to listen to me first.” Her voice reflected everything she felt. The pain, the anger, the sadness, and the determination. “Five years. For five freaking years, I have been carrying the weight of your death with me. All the what if’s. What if I had told Batman what you had planned. You would have felt betrayed, but you would have lived. What if I had gone with you? We could have escaped the Joker together or at least not let you die alone, or maybe we could have avoided the Joker all together. For years and years, I’ve been sitting on these what if. They burned in my brain. Was it even real? Did you even really die?”

“Yes.” Jason stated calmly. He had been quietly watch as she had ranted, but now, his head hung low and his gaze didn’t meet hers. 

“Oh.” She hadn’t expected that. If he had died, then how was he here now? 

“Yeah. It was as pleasant as it sounds.” An awkward silence fell upon the two young adults, but luckily it didn’t last long as Jason shock his head and straighten his back. Once hazel-blue, now green-blue eyes stared deeply and determined in to icy blues. “I’m sorry I left you alone all those years ago. Trust me, I was so looking forward to coming back and exploring what could have been. I can’t go into how I was resurrected, but I might be able to tell you one day. When I came back to Gotham, I was so angry and confused. All I thought about was how I could hurt Bruce. Somewhere deep in the still sane part of my mind, I could hear a voice telling me to forget him and go find you, but I didn’t listen to it. I wish I could have. I loved you. Hell, I’m still in love with you. I tell you this not as an excuse, but because I need you to understand. Please.” 

And just like all those years ago, she did. Gosh, this man was going to be the death of her one day. She quickly vaulted herself smaller body into his and squeezed tightly in fear that he would disappear if she loosed even a little bit.

“Jason,” the name felt rough on her tongue, “I… I love you, too. I’m still so mad at you, but I want to give us a shot.”

“So, does this mean I get a kiss?”

“I don’t know have you earned it?”

Jason smile widely and leaned down and met his lips to Athena’s in the last embers of the setting sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is confused how Selina knew, here is how. Dick left the lunch early and went to talk to Bruce about all that went down. A few days later while "hanging out" with her beau, Selina is told offhandedly about that day. Alfred never told Bruce that Jason had been to the Manor. I, also, had a bit more planned for this chapter but for reasons they did come out as I wanted. So sorry if some parts seem weird.


	7. Finally Meeting You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAHHHH! Sorry about the delay! I began this at the beginnig of the semester, and then I meant to work on it over spring break (I'm a full time college student) but something happened. Then classes began again, and I had no time to work on this between my job and school. But I'm free now. Please make sure to read the end note because I need ya'll help with something. Also, I will be going back and fixing and editing the previous chapters.

“Aaaaaaaaaagggggggghhhhh!” Athena’s pained scream pierced through the room. Jason could only watch from the sidelines with Dick, Barbra, and Damian. Dick was trying to keep him calm by rubbing his back, and Barbra was firmly holding his hand and stroking it with her thumb. Damian was there to keep Jason from running to his Cat’s side as she cried out in pain. The whole Bat family was in the Bat Cave, either trying to help Athena through this or just being there for her. 

Jason winced and squeezed his eyes shut as another scream rang out across the walls of the cave. He should be by her side, and he was earlier, but then something had gone terribly wrong and Alfred had to tell him to leave. The Red Hood vigilante had tried to protest, but then he felt Damian of all tug on his hand and calmly pulled him out of the area to where he was sitting now. He stared longing at the divider, behind which laid Athena crying in pain. He felt so… so… helpless, more helpless than when all he could do was watch the timer tick down on the Joker’s bomb. Jason couldn’t lose her, not again. 

They had been together for almost seven years now. Athena and Jason had had their ups and downs, their good times and rough patches. They weren’t prefect both of them has occasionally screwed up. (Some more than other, Athena would say if she were here right now.) It was because of her that he able to reconnect with the his family, including Bruce. Athena quickly became a member of the Bat family in the same way Selina had. Damian developed a rivalry with her and that has mellowed out over the years. She become closer to Barbra and works more closely with her, giving more information to the Bats than before. Dick proclaimed her to be his little sister that he always wanted. The best part though was seeing Bruce’s face when he realized how much smarter Athena, Jason’s heart, soul, and reason to live, was compared to him. That moment was the vigilante’s second favorite memory after the kiss they shared after making up all those years ago. Jason’s lips made a quick unnoticed twitch at the image of Bruce’s face. More screams filled Jason’s ears. 

Jason wasn’t a religious person, none of them really were, but many a prayers were spoken and bargains struck up in the hope that they would live through this. 

It all of a sudden went deathly quiet. Jason waited with baited breathe, fear paralyzing his body and lungs. His heart pounding was all he could hear as the blood thumped away in his ears. Then, he heard it, the first cries, and Jason run over to the make-shift medical room. Jason could hear his siblings following after him, but he didn’t care at that moment. He was looking at the most beautiful site in his life. There was his lover, looking disheveled from the exertion but never the less still glowing, holding a tiny little blanket burrito. Slightly hesitant, Jason carefully walked over to her side. Selina moved out of his way allowing full access to her. 

“Hey,” was all he could muster as he reached the woman lying in the bed.   
Athena smiled up at the love of life and said, “hey,” back to him. They stood staring at each other for a minute before she shift the tiny bundle in her arms. “Would you like to hold him?” 

“Him?” Jason looked down at his new-born child. 

“Yeah, him. Would you like to hold your son?” The new father hesitated for a moment, and Athena, even exhausted, noticed it and spoke softly to him. “Hey, look at me. We talked about this. We’ve all done bad things in our lives, but that doesn’t make any less worthy to touch you son, to hold him close to you. You’ve got this, honey.” With that she move his son closer to his trembling hands. He was trying, but the fears and insecurities still had a hold of him.

“Hey, if you don’t claim your kid, Bruce might mistake it for another orphan and try to adopt him,” Dick jokingly called out. Everyone laughed, even Bruce and Alfred, but that eased the tension in Jason’s mind and allowed to snap out of it. 

Jason quickly and carefully scooped his son up and held him close. “No, mine.” Everyone laughed at that, too. Athena scooched over a bit in her bed, giving Jason some room to sit down. The new parents laid together curling around the new life they had made to together. Everyone stood there quietly, giving them this moment. 

But still the ever petulant brat, though he was admittedly much better than when he first joined the family, Damian spoke up, breaking the silence. “So, what do you plan on naming him?”

Athena was quick to retort. “Well, we though of just leaving him in the forest for a week to have spiritual enlightenment, and then have him return us with his enlighten name.” Damian glared at her sarcasm. “No, but, when my parents were still alive, my dad told me that he would have named me Timothy if I had been a boy. It’s a family name. I promised him I would name my son that if I had a son, and now I have one.”

“But we, also, want to honor a very important person in my life,” Jason continued. “So, everyone, please meet Timothy Bruce Drake-Wayne.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the main story is over, but I have like ideas for stuff that happened in between. So let me knew if you want a one-shot series where I can add these head cannons and maybe even do requests. PLEASE let me know if you want this.


End file.
